Getting back to work seems to be the key incentive for a lot of businesses currently. But how do you ensure as a leader both you and your teams are motivated, productive and better-connected whilst working remotely? What is the new way of working?
Who wants normal anyway?
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the phrase ‘the new normal’ – what does that even mean? What was classed as normal before has gone – and in fact, who wants normal anyway. What we are now looking at is a new way of working and if you let it, it can be pretty exciting. Some of us have been banging the drum for flexible and remote working for a long time. Lockdown, as an enforced social experiment, has proved that the world doesn’t stop turning if we’re not at a desk 9-5. People can and will still get work done and thrive on their own whether they’re in an office or at home.
Can you really see your team if they’re not in the office?
Of course, it’s not all been plain sailing, far from it, there are issues associated with home working. It’s been hard for leaders and managers to ensure they’re really ‘seeing’ their team and working with the rhythms that suit them and their productivity. There’s also a balance needed as leaders need people to deliver well in their roles too.
Communication and transparency
For me, these past few months have been spent working with businesses and organisations to do just that. There’s no shame saying that we’re all learning as we go here and we’re in a new working environment where some thrive, and others don’t. The key is communication, visibility and transparency and the best teams have just that, with a bit of humility from leadership thrown in to boot.
Putting the noise cancelling headphones on your business
Through my series of online workshops, my focus has been very much on leaders and employees equally. The sessions have been designed to be practical, pragmatic and interactive. You’ll learn about focus, commitment and how to block out the background noise and learn how to work differently.
You can find the details of my workshops here – do let me know if I can help you and your teams to thrive with this new way of working.
The importance of good leadership
The leadership modules focus on communication skills and delivering your business strategy – however all the modules are relevant for leaders. The modules for employees are more focused on the individual and how to develop their performance.
The starting point for all of these is mindset. The recent challenges businesses and employees have faced show how important it is to balance wellbeing with productivity. By understanding how we work, we can work more effectively.
Each workshop can stand alone but they connect together fully as a series.
Delivering your strategy with a flexible workforce
The crucial starting point for a business leader is being clear on the strategy you’re delivering. How to communicate effectively with your team is covered in this module. Also, you’ll learn how to shape activities for employees to get the right fit and best outcomes.
Encouraging innovation for recession resilience
Employees who are motivated, enthusiastic and loyal are going to be crucial as we head into uncertain economic times. This module addresses how to encourage innovation with your employees and how they can start thinking differently now to support your business.
Communicating with remote & flexible teams
Leading a team based in various offices, at home and working different patterns can be challenging. Knowing how to communicate clearly when the behavioural cues of face-to-face contact are missing, especially if delivering difficult messages, will be addressed in this module.
Managing flexible working with fairness & equality
You’ll find some interesting solutions when you recruit to suit your future business needs from a flexible talent pool rather than filling a traditional role. This module will cover how to integrate flexible working successfully in your team and to ensure everyone is treated fairly and equally.
How to help your employees
Focusing & fighting distractions
It’s difficult to learn how to reduce distractions and focus with many conflicting priorities. This module helps you to identify how to focus and how to block out unnecessary distractions. We also cover how to measure tasks and activities to assess progress.
Meeting your goals & objectives while working flexibly
You might need a new approach when you understand how your work supports the wider business strategy whilst working flexibly. Getting clarity on both your own career goals and how you can align these to the wider business strategy is really important for working remotely.
Productivity, wellbeing & boundaries
Having clear boundaries around work priorities and other commitments can be challenging, especially whilst working from home. This module covers tools and techniques to become more productive whilst maintaining a healthy balance.
Prioritising & planning your work
Learning how you can work more strategically and block out time to focus on your priorities is particularly relevant now. Understanding how you can prioritise so you can make more progress effectively is the focus of this module.
If you would like to talk more about how I can work with you and your teams, I’d love to hear from you.